Fantasy Football Week 15: Start/Sit

We are in the thick of the playoffs right now, so these start/sits are becoming more important then ever. Hopefully this week will go better for us then last week. Matt Schaub, Vick Ballard, and Chris Givens were all unimpressive, posting under 12 points. On the sit side, Romo went for 20 while Stevie Johnson got 10. The last player on our list was the long great pick, Mikel Leshoure grabbing just four points.

Start

Darren McFadden RB Oakland Raiders- McFadden has struggled to stay on the field for the second half of the season, but it looks like he will be getting more into the offense this week. Combine that with the fact that Kansas City has given up big games on the ground all year long, and I think Run DMC will finally break through to the endzone in this game.

Start McFadden this week over the likes of Ahmad Bradshaw, Michael Turner, and Stevan Ridley.

Michael Crabtree WR San Francisco 49ers- Crabtree has stepped his game up this year, and for the first time in his career, he is a double digit fantasy scorer every week. In the last two weeks, he has notched 13 points, and I’m expecting similar results this week against New England. The Patriots will jump out to a lead, and Crabtree will be one of the biggest tools to fuel a potential 49ers comeback.

I like Crabtree more than Stevie Johnson, Torrey Smith, and Greg Jennings this week.

Josh Freeman QB Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Here’s an idea of how much I like Josh Freeman this week. I seriously considered benching my main guy Tom Brady this week against San Francisco in favor of Freeman against the Saints. Earlier in the year, Freeman tossed over 400 yeards and 3 TD’s on his way to a 30 point day. There’s no reason to think that he won’t put up similar numbers, even in a tough road environment.

I would look into benching Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Tony Romo for Freeman this week.

Sit

Randal Cobb WR Green Bay Packers- Cobb has been red hot recently in Green Bay, but I see his production going down a bit this week. For the first time seemingly all year, the Packers will be healthy enough to put their full receiving corp out there. Here’s how deep Green Bay is: their depth chart goes Jennings, Nelson, Jones, then Cobb. I don’t know how much production he will get against this tough defense, who held him to just one catch for 20 yards.

Some guys I like over Cobb include Mike Wallace, Hakeem Nicks, and Pierre Garcon.

Owen Daniels TE New England Patriots- The Texans have suddenly found a few options at tight end for Schaub, and that has directly resulted in a decrease in Daniels’ numbers. I don’t see this changing this week, even though they have a solid matchup against the Colts. Don’t be surprised to see some low numbers for this under-performing tight end.

Throw Daniels on the bench if you have Martelllus Bennett, Antonio Gates, or Dallas Clark.

Andrew Luck QB Indianapolis Colts- The last time the Texans lost, it was also a blowout against Green Bay. The Texans responded the next week by promptly crushing the Ravens. I’m not certain that the Colts get blown out in this game, but what I do believe is that Luck will be forced into a bad throw or two. I think Luck could add to that high INT tally, on his way to a subpar game against what still is an elite defense.

If you are looking for a good QB2 for Luck, I’d go with Carson Palmer, Russell Wilson, and Matt Schaub this week.